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Mini may not build electric cars in England due to Brexit

BMW will decide whether to build its new electric Mini in Britain or elsewhere by the end of September, its board member for sales told Reuters, in a test of the country's ability to continue to attract investment as it leaves the EU. Mini makes around 70 percent of its approximately 360,000 compact cars at its Oxford plant in southern England but the car industry is concerned about the effect any loss of unfettered access to the EU, its largest export market, could have on plants after Brexit. BMW is deciding between its English site, a plant in the Netherlands where it has built more of its conventional line-up in recent years, and its Germany plants at Leipzig and Regensburg for the new low-emissions variant. The firm's board member for sales told Reuters that the electric Mini investment, likely to be worth tens of millions of pounds, would come in the next three months and the board was currently considering a number of factors including Brexit. "One of the elements is what is the likelihood of a tax regime and if there's a tax regime, how would it apply," Ian Robertson said during an interview at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in southern England. "If you made the motor in a German plant and you then assembled the car in a British plant, and you took the cars back to the German market, then the duty that you would pay would be reclaimed," he said, in an example of the options companies are examining to plan for any duties or tariffs. The automaker is also looking into where the uptake of greener models is strongest and where the best supply chains are, he said. Britain could approve its first major electric battery hub in the next few weeks after officials in central England submitted proposals to ministers in May. But last month, the car industry issued its strongest warning yet on the need for politicians to strike a transitional Brexit deal after two-year talks to ensure unfettered trade is maintained. Uncertainty has also been heightened after a snap June 8 election which left Prime Minister Theresa May without a majority and has led to ministers in her administration hinting at different versions of Britain's likely post-Brexit future. Last year, May's administration helped secure two new models at Japanese carmaker Nissan's plant in the north of England after what a source said was a government promise of extra support to counter any loss of competitiveness caused by Brexit.

How Mini shacked up with John Cooper

The late Sir Alexander Arnold Constantine Issigonis, Alec Issignonis to his Internet friends, designed a car that was sold as the Morris Mini-Minor, the Austin Seven and later the Austin Mini. Go to the Mini USA website and check out the models, though, and every one of them is called a Cooper of some sort, e.g., Mini Cooper Paceman or Mini Cooper S Roadster. So who is Cooper?
It's probably obvious that it's the same Cooper we get in "John Cooper Works," those JCW Minis that always make up the top of the line. But many probably don't know that that John Cooper, founder of John Cooper Cars, is the same man who accidentally got the motorsports world to switch to rear-engined race cars and the same Formula One constructor who won two titles in 1959 and 1960 and who fielded drivers like Bruce McLaren and Stirling Moss.
On its way to driving the Mini John Cooper Works GP II, XCAR goes back to the beginning to find out when Alec met John, and how the first Mini Cooper came out in 1961, two years after the first Mini. You can watch the story and the car review in the video below.

Mini Aceman spy photos show strong relation to concept

When Mini revealed the Aceman concept earlier this year, the automaker made it clear that it previewed an upcoming model. That production model is what you see here under the camouflage. And it seems the little electric crossover is hewing close to the concept's lines. The overall shape is classic Mini with a two-box layout, floating, contrasting roof and wheels pushed to the corners. It of course has big headlights at the front, and they have the bevelled edges of the concept. We can just make out the edges of a grille panel like on the concept. Of course it's difficult to see, being solid, a result of the car being an EV.  Moving around the car, we find the semi-flush door handles that BMW has come to like. The concept's wide hatch opening and multi-segment LED taillights seem to have made it to production without much change, too. The camouflage makes it hard to tell whether the squared-off contrast fender flares of the concept are sticking around, but considering how much else is true to form, we'd expect them to show up. The Aceman will fit between the new Mini hatchback and the Countryman SUV. Previous spy shots of the Countryman have shown that it's a fair bit longer at the rear than this Aceman. We're expecting it Aceman go into production in 2024, likely with a reveal sometime next year.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. 2024 Mini Hardtop winter testing footage before unveiling